The next day it seemed as though the dust had settled from the night before.  They all were rudely woken up and forced to get ready to leave without anything to eat or drink.  Jade had them chained up and tossed in a van to be taken to the airport.  There was nothing nice or kind about the treatment that they received.  But the guys were too drained to care.  Lexi had to be right; there was no way it could get worse.

No one would talk to them or tell them what was going on.  As they climbed out of the van a familiar figure came into focus, instantly bringing a smile to their faces.  It was Lexi.  She was dressed in business clothes and carrying a briefcase, a far cry from her club attire.  But her smile and presence were comforting to them.

“I thought I told you to get lost.” Jade snapped, clearly not happy to see her former employee.

“You did, but if you had waited 5 more minutes I would have quit.   No need to worry about unemployment though, I am here on official business.” Lexi pulled out a business card and handed it to her.  “Miss Sebastian, approached me after you sold them to her and hired me as her new personal assistant, I will be working with the guys mostly.  I am here to make sure everything goes smoothly and the ‘property’ isn’t damaged any further during this process.”  She explained then handed Jade another check from Isadora; it was the rest of her money.  “I can take it from here, so now you can get lost.  Your services are no long required not that you have been much help so far.”  Lexi pointed Jade toward the door.  It felt really good to Lexi to finally say that and be in a position of power over the tyrant. 

Jade looked at the check and quickly protested the amount.  Lexi smiled and carefully told her how horribly upset Isadora was to find out that she had broken their agreement by renting JC out without restrictions.  As per their signed agreement Jade was fined a considerable sum, which Isadora kindly just removed from her final payment.  If she would like to contest it, Lexi handed her the business card of Isadora’s lawyer.  Jade was pissed, the pair had totally played her so she just took off, there wasn’t much that she could do now, and the guys were no longer her concern. 

“Please remove the restraints; I doubt we will have any issues.” Lexi requested of the airport staff.   The guys rubbed their aching wrists and waited for her to say something else.  They really weren’t sure what was going on now.

“So this is your awesome new job?” JC finally asked.  He was leaning on Joey for support, still clearly recovering from the night before.  “It looks a lot like your old job.”  Lexi shook her head this was different.

“No, it’s way better.  More pay, more benefits and my new boss isn’t a complete bitch.  Shall we get on our way, it’s a long flight.” Lexi offered showing them the way to Isadora’s private plane.  It was small but more than big enough for them.

All the guys seemed drained, still recovering from the hellish night before and the many months of abuse.  They were all awake and moving, but it was slow going.  Lexi sat by JC on the plane and held his hand.  It was unclear if he was mad at her or not.  Truth be told he was too tired to fight with her.  He was just happy to see her but it also meant that she would be there to find out just how sick he really was.

“Miss Ackart?” The hostess asked.  Lexi nodded and she handed her an envelope. “Miss Sebastian told me to give this to you; she said to consider it a signing bonus.” 

Lexi carefully opened it as the guys watched.  Inside were a bunch of papers and photos along with a note that read.  “Inside you will find everything that you need to ruin Jade Gaillard.  Do with it what you will. Sincerely, Isadora.”  Isadora had secretly hired a private investigator to check into Lexi’s allegations, providing the proof that Isadora needed to black mail Jade if it had come to that, Isadora was ready to play dirty, sometimes you have to when dealing with people like Jade.  But why waste the money?  Lexi could take it to the police and they could deal with the horrid woman.  It was time Jade got what was coming to her.

She looked at the folder in her hand, hell yeah she was going to turn Jade in, it was something that she had planned to do all along this was just going to make nailing her that much easier.  Leave it to Isadora to have a solid backup plan.  Lexi could have turned her in before, but if Jade got busted the guys would have gone back into the System and Lexi would have lost them forever.  It was selfish but she wouldn’t give them up and risk them ending up with someone just as bad.

When Joey asked what it was, Lexi just smiled.  “It’s not important; I’ll deal with it later, you can count on that.  I am sure you boys have enough stress today, but I am telling you it’s going to be okay.  Right now let’s get you guys settled in.”  Lexi proceeded to get up fix them all a drink and a light snack.  Since no one else was going to ask Justin finally spoke up.

“Why did you lie to us? He asked.

“I didn’t lie; I just didn’t tell you the whole story.  I couldn’t…  We kind of played Jade and she couldn’t find out what was going on.  I knew you guys couldn’t lie to her so I just didn’t tell you everything.  I didn’t want you to get in trouble any more trouble then you were already.  But I swear to god that I have your best interest at heart.” Lexi explained.

“Isadora, she’s your friend.  The one you told me about while back, isn’t she?” Lance asked.  He was laid back in his seat trying to relax.  He didn’t appear mad at her, more concerned than anything.  Lexi just nodded.

“I knew it.  You two were working together from the very start.” Chris snapped.  He was out right pissed; she totally set him up and lied to him about it when he asked her.

After a series of deep breaths Lexi turned to face the guys, she had known this was coming and tried to prepare herself to address them.  “I called Isadora months ago, I was crying and upset after a really bad day at work.  I just needed a friend.  When I told her about you guys and what was going on she was sympathetic and caring.  I asked her to buy you guys and save you from certain death.  I didn’t know what else to do.”  Lexi carefully explained.  Chris just glared at her.

“I am sorry Chris.  I am sorry that I thought you guys would be better off with Isadora…with her mansion, medical staff and millions…with that damn pedestal that she has you on.” Lexi snapped back.  Chris just huffed and sank down into his seat.  There was no point in arguing with her, in some cases she was right but he was still mad.

Lexi passed out the drinks and then introduced them to the pilot and another woman that would be traveling with them.  As she went around she noticed that all the guys were a little tense, at times they even trembled with fear, and they were fighting their sleep, too worried about something happening.  Lexi realized that she was somewhat to blame for their lack of trust.

“Do you have anything in your bag of tricks to put the guys at ease?  Maybe a little something to help them relax a little?” Lexi asked looking at the other woman.  She looked through her bag and produced a bottle of something that should help.  Chris was the first one she came to so she just held one of the pills out to him and waited.

“I thought you didn’t like us taking drugs?” Chris snipped.  He kept his arms fold across his chest as he continued to glare at her.

“Just the illegal ones.  Rachel here is a M.D. But I am not going to force you to take it, I just thought you could use something a calm your nerves.” Lexi explained.  Isadora had hired Rachel to look after the guys for the next few days and get them back on their feet.  She would be there personal doctor for now.

Chris glanced at the woman then at the medication.  He had to admit that thought of getting some rest and maybe forgetting about the stress was appealing.  He finally took the tiny pill and tossed it in his mouth; he flashing a hateful look at Lexi as he took a drink of water.  At least Lexi now knew that Chris was very unhappy with her.  In turn each of the guys took the pills wondering how longer before they kicked in.  This was going to save them the stress of dwelling over everything the entire 4 hour flight.  Isadora had their best interest at heart, Lexi was sure of that now. 

“Chris, are you okay?” Justin finally asked after watching Chris chew on his fingernail for about 10 minutes.  Lexi and the doctor were toward the front of the plane having a conversation about something completely unrelated so he wasn’t too worried about them over hearing.

“I am fine, I am just nervous.  Plus I really don’t feel well.  What if Isadora finds out how bad of shape we are in and changes her mind?” Chris questioned, with a yawn.

“I am sure there was a lot of money involved, I don’t think she will back out just because you have a cold.  I get the feeling though that you are looking forward to this move now?” Justin asked.  He wasn’t hiding his feelings, he was scared and everyone knew it, but there was some truth to what Lexi had said.  Isadora’s crush on him could actually be a good thing.

“I think Lexi is right, this could be a good thing.  From what I saw Isadora is a very logical person and if we break a leg on stage, she’ll get it fixed instead of making us perform half-assed.” Chris explained, he was still mad at Lexi for lying but it didn’t mean that she wasn’t right.  Justin nodded; it had never made sense to him why Jade hadn’t treated them better and gotten the real medical attention when it was needed.  The quality of the performances had gone downhill quickly and people noticed.  “We probably should get some rest.”

Justin settled back into his seat and slowly drifted off to sleep, the drugs were kicking in now and he found himself completely relaxed. 

Of course there was more to the plan; Isadora liked to be at least 2 steps ahead, Rachel, got right to work after the plane leveled off making sure that they were all ok.   While the guys slept she made her rounds checking each one of them over, taking care of the immediate medical concerns first before moving on to the minor things.

There was some concern when she noticed the marks on Justin’s wrists; she had to ask Lexi about it.  Lexi explained honestly what happened but asked Rachel to let her tell Isadora.  It needed to be explained to her in a way that only Lexi could.  Lexi watched as Rachel made her rounds, not really knowing the woman very well she wanted to make sure that she remained professional.

“Exactly what did you give them?” Lexi finally asked her after noticing that the guys barely moved when she touched them.  From time to time their eyes fluttered open and rolled around in their heads. 

“Maybe it was a little on the strong side, but you have to admit they are relaxed.  I am guessing that it didn’t mix well with their already tired and worn out bodies.  They are fine though, just a little out of it.” Rachel explained.  It wasn’t like she had brought her a whole pharmacy with her, the options had been limited.  She was checking their vital signs from time to time just to make sure but everything seemed normal.  They were just exhausted.

A sudden jerk caused JC to finally open his eyes.  He felt like he had only been asleep for a few minutes but that jerk could only mean that they had landed.  By now it was dark outside and getting late. He watched as Rachel darted around getting things ready so they could disembark the plane.  The nice guy in him wanted to help her but his body refused to move.  Maybe it had been the stress and fear that had given him the strength to keep going, now that those were gone thanks to the medication, nothing seemed to want to work.

“It’s time to go, JC.” Lexi said taking his face in her hands and forcing him to look at her.  He placed his hand on top of hers; despite everything he still loved her.  He didn’t regret sleeping with her, if anything he longed to do it again.  JC nodded and let Lexi pull him up from his chair.  She escorted him to a waiting Van. The drugs had not warn off yet but it was easy enough to move them to the van by encouraging them and pointing the in the right direction.  They didn’t put up a fight at all, it was like they were sleep walking. 

Rachel had things pretty well under control, it would still take days for them to really start feeling better but they were at least on the right path.  There were a few things that raised some red flag and she would go over all of that with her employer when they got to the house. 

Isadora met them at the front door of what could only be described as a beautiful estate.  The massive house was nestled comfortably into the New York country side, far from the city lights.  She seemed happy to see the sleeping men and her dear friend.

“What exactly did you do to them?” Isadora asked after they arrived at her house only to find all 5 guys passed out again in the back of the van. 

“I am not entirely sure this is my fault, they were pretty exhausted.” Rachel responded.  They decided that they would each take a guy and guide them to their beds, then Rachel could start IV’s and stuff while Lexi and Isadora came back for the remaining two. 

When Isadora pulled Chris out of the van he looked at her with heavy eyes.  He was too tired to fight her and too drugged to be afraid of her so he let her pull him toward the house.  He stumbled but she was able to guide him inside.

Isadora watched as her dream guy carefully crawled up her staircase in an attempt to make it to his 2nd floor bedroom.  When he reached the top she helped pull him back on his feet.  She could hear Lexi laughing at her as she helped guide JC up the stairs, but at least he was up right. 

“Is he really safe with her?” JC whispered, watching Isadora wrestle with his incoherent friend. 

“He is safer with her than without her.” Lexi replied. Isadora pointed Lexi to JC and Justin’s room while sending Chris into his room, which he would share with Joey, unsupervised.  It wasn’t like there was anything that he could get in to.

She walked in to find him lying on his stomach trying to use the comforter to pull himself into the middle of the queen sized bed that was the furthest from the door.  She laughed at him before going over and carefully pulling his shoes off.  Then she rolled him over onto his back so that she could slip his pants off, assuming that he would be more comfortable sleeping in his underwear. 

“Hey now!” Chris whined as he felt her working the zipper on his pants.  He tried to sit up but fell back down on the bed.

“I am just going to put you in bed.” Isa explained not that he was putting up much of a fight, with a good strong tug the pants fell to the floor.  She then sat him up and pulled his shirt off tossing it aside as well, the nasty clothes that Jade and sent them in were worthless and would have to be burnt or something.

“I need to talk to you.” Chris mumbled.  He looked at her as she tried to stop him from falling over.  His tired eyes got serious for a moment.

“I am sure you do.” Isadora stated, knowing that singer was too far gone to really say anything worth taking to heart.

“No, I really do.” He defended.

“Tomorrow, we can talk tomorrow.  Right now it’s bed time.” Isadora explained pulling the covers down and basically shoving him over.  As soon as his head hit the pillow he nuzzled right into it and moaned, mumbling something about being pretty and love.  She tried to cover him up as best she could before heading back down to get Joey.  She paused at the door and watched as he slowly drifted to sleep, still mumbling to himself about something.  She was never one to show it but she was nervous too.

She met Lexi at the van, they both sighed as Justin and Joey lay curled up together in the back of the van.  They may have been a little cold or just looking for comfort.  Lexi reached in and pulled Justin out first, he eyes opened for a minute.

“There is something that I need to tell you about Justin.” Lexi said, wanting to get it out of the way before Rachel told her.  “I am sorry that I didn’t tell you this sooner but right after the whole stud testing incident he tried to kill himself.”  Isadora let go of Joey causing him to almost fall back into the van before she caught a hold of him again.  Justin could hear what was being said; he forced his eyes open again and instantly started to water up.

“Please don’t make me…” He fell toward his new master and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her.  “I’ll be good…promise.”  Lexi let him go wondering if her friend could support the weight of both men.  It was long before she took pity on her and grabbed a hold of Joey’s arm.

“Come on big guy, let’s get you in bed.” Lexi explained pulling him toward the house, leaving Isadora and Justin to work it out on their own.  Lexi knew there would be hell to pay later.  Isadora was mad for a minute; more so at Lexi for not telling her, but as Justin sobbed lightly in her ear she began to forgive her friend.  She hugged him back and comforted him.

“There… There… Sweat heart.  Everything is going to be okay.  We’ll get you some help and I promise we’re going to make music, not babies.” She explained taking the time to look him in the eyes, wondering if he would even remember this conversation.  Once he got himself calmed down Isadora helped him inside.

As she was getting him into his bed she watched as Rachel hooked JC up to an IV.  He barely moved as she stuck him.  That wasn’t a good sign for something that was supposedly afraid of needles.  Rachel hooked all the guys to IV and gave them a shot of antibiotics to help speed up the healing process.  Rachel would be staying in the guest room as well so that she could be on hand in case anything came up.  As they walked down the hall toward the main level, Isadora notice how quiet Rachel was and asked her if she was okay.

“I am fine, you know when we talked on the phone you had said it was bad.  I just didn’t think it would be this bad.  Medically speaking some of those men shouldn’t even be alive right now.” Rachel explained.

“I am not sure how to take that, I guess it is a testament to their will to live.  I know that the next few days will be hard but it’s going to be fine, you’ll see.” Isadora explained.